Stamford resident Len Vlahos' experiences as a member of punk/pop band Woofing Cookies while in his teens and early 20s inspired his debut novel, "The Scar Boys," which was released in January. This young adult novel tells the story of a group of young musicians as they learn about one another and the power of music. less

Stamford resident Len Vlahos' experiences as a member of punk/pop band Woofing Cookies while in his teens and early 20s inspired his debut novel, "The Scar Boys," which was released in January. This young adult ... more

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The Woofing Cookies, which was formed by author Len Vlahos, second from left, and a group of high school friends, enjoyed a bit of the run in the 1980s, going on the road through many cities and towns on the East Coast. Vlahos recently celebrated the release of his first novel, "The Scar Boys." less

The Woofing Cookies, which was formed by author Len Vlahos, second from left, and a group of high school friends, enjoyed a bit of the run in the 1980s, going on the road through many cities and towns on the ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Stamford author's debut novel 'The Scar Boys' draws from the healing power of music

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It wasn't long after Len Vlahos had played out the supreme teen dream of living the life of a rock star that he took pen to paper to record all that had happened.

"I wrote like a hundred pages of notes," Vlahos said. "It was sort of everything I could remember."

Up until that point, Vlahos, who was then in his early 20s, had been a member of the Woofing Cookies, an indie band born out of the punk, pop and new wave sound of the 1980s. Vlahos, who played guitar, had formed the group with three friends, and classmates, while a junior at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, N.Y. Through the mid-1980s, they gained fans and industry attention as their full-length album and two singles (one produced by REM's Peter Buck) increasingly spun at college radio stations across the country.

With youth and inexperience on their side, however, Vlahos said it was hard to capitalize on the success, and in 1987, the group disbanded.

"So, who knows what would have happened, but I always felt that I never gave that everything I could," he said.

In the ensuing years, Vlahos, who had written songs and stories since he was a child, would be inspired by those notes and his experiences, creating short stories, a screenplay and essays about that time of his life. But they always fell short.

"It all came out as a memoir and that wasn't what I wanted to do," said the 48-year-old who has worked for years in the book industry. "It wasn't my story at all that I was trying to tell. It was something bigger. It was the story of how music can give a kid confidence, can help a kid make friends and can really save a life. That is what this book ultimately ended up being."

In his debut novel, "The Scar Boys," Vlahos, who has lived in Stamford for the past six years, has created a coming-of-age story that is told through the experiences of a teenage rock band, whose members learn some of their hardest lessons on the road and whose name gives the book its title. The main voice is Harbinger "Harry" Jones, who bears the scars, physically and psychologically, of a childhood accident brought on by bullies.

The story is drawn from Vlahos' experiences, as well as that of his Woofing Cookies bandmates (drummer Chad Strohmayer, singer Scott Nafz and bass player Joe Loskywitz), but Vlahos said the Scar Boys' tale is all their own. The book, which is geared toward teens, has gained positive reviews from many outlets. From the start, however, it resonated with the team at Egmont USA, the New York City-based publisher of the book.

"It was a combination of the story and the way the story was told," said Andrea Cascardi, the managing director and publisher of Egmont USA. "And the hook of the music itself."

Given that music plays a dominant part of the story, song titles serve as chapter heads. Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and REM's "Sitting Still," for instance, set the mood as the band grapples with vehicular breakdowns and emotional rifts while on tour.

Cascardi said although the book is set in the 1980s, teens have been drawn to the story and the music. There is a nod to today's music scene with a Scar Boys playlist on Spotify. Still, the story brings readers back to the music scene before social media, YouTube and inexpensive home music studios.

Bands would staple posters to telephone poles, slap flyers on walls or hope word-of-mouth would draw the crowds. And, if you lived in the greater New York City area and had good television reception, you might have come across "The Scott and Gary Show," a public access show taped in New York City that featured such up-and-coming and alternative bands as the Beastie Boys, Half Japanese and, yes, the Woofing Cookies.

The show followed a simple formula when it came to the music. "We'd start a tape and let it run and have people come and dance," said Gary Winter, now a New York City-based playwright.

The show provided an outlet for bands seeking TV exposure — particularly talented musicians whose aesthetic might not make the cut for producers at MTV.

Lewis, a New Jersey-based visual artist, said the show was an "alternative universe American bandstand," endeavoring to present "the more interesting side of what was going on" in music — the kind of place the Scar Boys would likely have been welcomed.

For Vlahos, finding an audience for his first book has finally put him back on tour — he performs with his guitar at book events — and has given him a chance to finish what he started so many years ago. He will make several stops in California at month's end, and has a few more lined up in Massachusetts, Texas and Georgia through April.

"I am leaving no stone unturned," he said. "I am doing everything I can do to help this book find an audience. If it doesn't find an audience, fine, but it won't be because I didn't try."